37% employees feel good looking people get promotions

It will not be wrong to say that good looks might prove helpful in certain jobs but cannot guarantee career growth life-long

Neha Singh Verma, TimesJobs.com Bureau

Good looks helps, both men and women, in getting promotions, revealed a recent poll conducted by TimesJobs.com. In the poll, 37% respondents agreed that good looking employees (both men and women) are better positioned for growth. And, 22% of respondents alleged that a pleasing appearance is beneficial for women to get promotions, whereas in case of men, only 11% of respondents felt that good looks help in getting promotions.

In his book Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful, Daniel S. Hamermesh, who is a professor of Economics at Texas University and London University has measured the advantage of beauty in all aspects of life including jobs, promotions as well as relationships. And he has explained that attractive employees are easily employed, get higher salaries (and these amounts also differ by genders) and they work productively and profitably.

Does it mean good looks are the single most important selection criterion for recruiters? According to 30% respondents of TimesJobs.com poll, good looks do not matter in career growth or promotions. This point towards the fact that India Inc still believes that merit in terms of capability, performance and potential are the most crucial ingredients for professional growth.

Sharing her thoughts on this, Pragya Kumar, head-HR, Yatra.com, explained, “When I say “good looking”, I always mean – bright, happy and energetic looking people with a smile on their face. I believe that a smile not only increases your face value but also increases the prospects of you getting a job. In this context it is natural to find ‘good looking people’ more appealing. However, good looks are not the parameters for growing within the organisation or industry.”

In view of Gagan Singh, CEO – Business & Chairperson – Sri Lanka Operations, Jones Lang LaSalle India, whether or not a pleasing appearance gives a candidate an edge in an interview, or an existing employee better growth prospects, would depend on the company, the industry it operates in and the particular role in question. Such a bias would be more evident in the unorganised sector, where corporate ethics do not always play a role in employee selection and career advancement. There would also be a clearer gender bias in the unorganised sector.

So, is it really men vs. women? Growth comes in on the basis of talent and potential and not the gender, supports Shivani Kapoor, head -talent management, Groupon India. Globally, gender expectations in the workplace have shifted substantially in the recent decades — with more women as CEOs, more men as nurses. A lot of studies talk about examining perceptions of people in various jobs (medium to high powered) and find that they are likely to be judged or evaluated for the role they perform which is not normally associated with their gender, she added.

In totality, it will not be wrong to say that good looks might prove helpful in certain jobs or in some industries but cannot guarantee career growth life-long. While personal biases might exist at the workplace, it is wrong to conclude that good-looking employees are better positioned for growth.

Source : http://content.timesjobs.com